MarketAxess, a prominent operator of an electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities, has released the data for its trading volume for November. The reported figures revealed a total credit trading volume of $303.3 billion, marking a historic high for the company.
Among the notable achievements are that Eurobonds trading volume reached an unprecedented $43.7 billion, and municipal bond trading volume surged to a record $12.6 billion.
Record Credit Trading and Promising Growth Signals
Chris Concannon, the CEO of MarketAxess, mentioned: "We delivered record total credit trading volume in November, driven by strong growth across all credit products. The adoption of MarketAxess X-Pro continues to expand, with 30% of our portfolio trading volume executed over the X-Pro platform quarter-to-date, up from 18% in the third quarter of 2023."
"We believe that the continued improvement in the market backdrop and the high levels of client engagement with X-Pro, our unique proprietary data products, and our automated trading solutions position us for growth in the coming quarters."
The total credit average daily trading volume reached $14.3 billion, demonstrating a notable increase of 9.3% compared to the prior year and a substantial surge of 13.4% compared to October 2023. US high-grade and high-yield ADV experienced substantial upticks.
Additionally, emerging markets ADV saw a significant rise of 7.6% from the prior year, primarily attributed to increased trading volume in local currency markets. Eurobonds and municipal bonds also experienced a substantial upswing in ADV, reflecting growing market activity in these segments.
MarketAxess Boosts Financial Performance in Q3
In October, MarketAxess released its financial results for the third quarter. While the company maintained stable revenue at $172.3 million, it experienced a notable decrease in operating income to $66.9 million, attributed to a surge of 10% in total expenses. Despite this, MarketAxess celebrated achieving a record automated trading volume and expanded its active client base.
The company's active client base reached a new high of 2,093 firms, reflecting an improvement of 6.1%. This included a significant rise in both active US credit client firms and international active client firms.
MarketAxess, while facing challenges due to low credit spread volatility and increased expenses, revised its full-year 2023 expense guidance. The firm expects a lower effective tax rate and positive trends for the remainder of the year.
In May, Bloomberg, MarketAxess, and Tradeweb teamed up to establish a joint venture to operate a consolidated tape provider for fixed-income instruments within the European Union region. This collaboration marked a pivotal moment in the effort to enhance transparency and promote electronification in the fixed-income industry.
